Saudi Aramco, Total Award EPC Contracts Worth $9.6 Billion

Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) and Total S.A (Total) have awarded engineering, procurement and contracting (EPC) contracts worth $9.6 billion, Arab News reported. The contracts are awarded to 13 contractors for the construction of 400,000 barrels per day (bpd) Jubail export refinery. The project, which is to be fully operational by the second half of 2013, will process Arabian heavy crude.

The project was postponed as the two firms looked to capitalize on lower construction costs and bring the total cost to below $10 billion.

The agreements were signed by Saudi Aramco Total Refining and Petrochemical Company (SATORP), joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Total.

SATORP’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Salem Shaheen said: “On its completion, the new refinery will be one of the most advanced refineries worldwide, transforming Arabian heavy crude into high specification products that are intended to meet the ever-increasing demand for environment-friendly fuel types.”

“This will eventually leave Saudi Aramco and Total each with a 37.5 percent share of the company’s ownership,” Shaheen said. It is expected that the refinery will produce around 1,200 direct employment opportunities, each of which will offer five to six indirect job opportunities.

The EPC contract for permanent infrastructure was awarded to Al-Osais Contracting Co; the refinery tank farm contract was given to Petro Steel; the pipelines and off plot facilities contract was awarded to Gulf Consolidated Contractors Co. Ltd.; the auxiliary utilities to Mohammed Rashid Khathlan Est. for contracting; the aromatics contract was given to Samsung Engineering Co.; the sulfur/amine to Daelim Industrial Co. Ltd.; the interconnecting utilities was awarded to Technip SpA.

The plant utilities contract was given to S.K. Engineering and Construction; the distillation and hydro treating was awarded to Tecnicas Reunidas; the port tank farm to Dayim Punj Lloyd Construction Contracting Co. Ltd; the coker contract was given to Chiyoda/Samsung; the conversion contract went to Technip SpA and the telecommunication system contract was awarded to Sumitomo Corporation.

SATORP had earlier awarded two contracts to two Saudi firms. Site preparation for temporary construction facilities contract was given to Abdul Rahman M. Al-Shalawi Est. for contracting and the contract for building temporary construction facilities went to Contracting and Construction Enterprises Ltd.